Today there are organizations for women's rights, for children's rights, and even for animals' rights. This is not to say that there should be any organization for men's rights, indeed there should not be. Christians should have no desire to follow in the ways of the world to demand rights that may or may not be God-given. But men, in obedience to God, should simply start assuming and fulfilling their responsibilities as husbands, fathers, and church leaders (for which we shall all account to the Lord on the Day of Judgment).

Today in modern societies there is less distinction between male and female, not only in outward appearance but in roles in the home, in the work place and in every sphere of human endeavor. This paradigm shift has taken place in a large measure because of the spirit of antichrist of the last days about which the apostle John prophesied. And the main instrument through which the Enemy of our souls has, sometimes subtly, promulgated this humanistic, anti-God phenomenon is the mass media, including television, radio, newspapers, and motion pictures.

Christians generally have not only listened to, but embraced the lie and now there is at least a second generation of many adults, including church leaders, who have been raised in a family in which there was little or no distinct male authority figure nor the example of God's idea of a godly woman as set forth in the Scriptures. "Ye wives be in subjection to your own husbands....[with] a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord" (1 Pet. 3:1-6).

Likewise, there are many adults who are, at least, a second generation of a family environment in which the husband was a tyrannical head of household and without love and compassion and patience and other virtues of a godly man. "Ye husbands, dwell with [your wives] according to knowledge [in an understanding way], giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel" (1 Pet. 3:7). "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it" (Eph. 5:25). "Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4).

But Christians do not necessarily need role models in order to know what is right and what is wrong in the sight of God concerning the issue at hand; we have the Word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth (Jn. 16:13).

A Conspiracy in the Pulpits?

It is almost as though there is a conspiracy in the pulpits, as so many church leaders have misled their flocks in many ways including this one. One would have to conclude when all the evidence is in that a "pastor-teacher" who claims to proclaim the whole counsel of God would have to deliberately ignore the clear teachings of the Word of God even if he had read through the Scriptures only once. The most glaring example of this abominable negligence is in the case of so-called women pastors and church leaders. A couple of passages that women in the pulpit will not proclaim or expound is "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church...The things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord" (1 Cor. 14:34-37). And, "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not [do not allow] a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over [dominate] the man, but to be in silence" (1 Tim. 2:11-12).

If approached, many women "preachers" and "teachers" will summarily dismiss the issue by saying that Paul was dealing with a problem that was peculiar to his time in the church at Corinth and/or the apostle had a personal problem with women, and these things do not apply to us.

Several years ago this writer was invited for a meal in the home of a male preacher and ex-pastor of a large congregation in Chicago. He also had a considerable amount of experience in smuggling Bibles into Russia in days past. After the meal he told me that he had also been the pastor of a smaller church in which he appointed a woman as an elder. When I pointed out to him, in a spirit of love, that it was unscriptural for a woman to hold the office of elder he said that there were no qualified men to fill the position, that she was a better teacher and knew the Bible better than any of the men in the congregation. I told him that if God wanted him to appoint an elder he would provide a qualified man in due time. I told him that it did not matter that she was a better teacher and knew the Bible better than any of the men, she did not meet the qualifications of an elder as listed in Titus chapter 1 (which includes among other qualifications that he must be the husband of only one wife, if in fact he is married). And I told him that women were forbidden to speak in the church.

He was under great conviction and rather than repenting and admitting that he was in violation of Scripture, he let me know that I was no longer welcome in his home. This is typical of the condition of a growing number of church leaders, not only in this country but in others around the world as revealed by the letters that I receive from pastors and church leaders in countries on the other side of the globe.

Beloved brother or sister, if you have come this far in reading this treatise, I beseech you to continue to the end and you will see according to the Scriptures what God has to say about this issue, regardless of the prevalent violations by many eminent church leaders today (and a few in days gone by) who are considered to be conservative and godly. I hope that you will read this message prayerfully, with a humble and teachable spirit.

We are probably entering the darkest times in the history of the world that will provide the backdrop for the brightest lights burning for the glory of God. May the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Head of the Church, raise up men (and there may be only a precious few of them) who will submit to God in everything and proclaim the truths of His Word in the power of the Holy Spirit regardless of the cost.

To understand the issue at hand we must begin with the beginning of the end; that is, with the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. There was a proper and perfect relationship with man and his wife and his God and with all the other creatures of the earth. The end of that perfect relationship with man and wife was when the woman succumbed to the subtlety of the serpent and the man allowed his precious wife to not only partake of that which was forbidden, but he identified with her rather than God and died a spiritual death with her.

The rest is history; but it is a history from which we refuse to learn. The pitiful truth is that as we approach the end of history things have not only gotten worse, but have become perverted and abominable in the sight of God.

The Lord cleansed the face of the earth of its perversity and rebellion against God the first time with water. The second and last time He will not only cleanse but destroy the earth by fire because it has become once again as it was in the days of Noah.

The essence of the problem is just that---rebellion against God. Any rebellion against God-ordained authority is rebellion against the Ordainer. And rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft---it is a very serious sin (1 Sam. 15:23).

The Sovereignty of the Husband and Father

There is no higher human authority on this planet, according to God, than that of a husband and father of minor children. And doubtless there will be no greater degree of accountability to God on the Day of Judgment than that of a husband and father. Men who abuse that God-given authority do not realize the consequences of their sin. And there are many earthly governments that have, as far as they are concerned, to a large degree taken away man's authority.

One of the consequences of Adam and Eve sinning is that God told Eve, "Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee" (Gen. 3:16). This is one thing that did not change from the Old to the New Dispensation. It is only in heaven where there are no husband-wife relationships that wives will no longer be commanded by God to be in subjection to their husbands. God said through the apostle Peter, "Ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands...even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord" (1 Pet. 3:1-6).

Sarah trusted God and obeyed Abraham, and even went to stay in Pharaoh's house in obedience to her husband after he told her to tell him she was his sister. God commended Sarah in the Scriptures through the apostle Peter in his first epistle. Sarah also obeyed her husband in the same situation with King Abimelech. Rebekah did a similar thing in obedience to her husband Isaac, and God kept both Sarah and Rebekah safe because they obeyed their husbands.

There are numerous passages in the Scriptures that could be cited to clearly show the sovereignty, on a human plane, of a husband or father and that this is indeed a God-ordained "man's world," but more than enough passages in different contexts are revealed in this treatise to make it clear to the teachable Christian for whom a voluminous, exhaustive treatment would not be necessary. God clearly reveals the sovereignty of a husband and father in the Old Dispensation in the Book of Numbers, chapter 30. If a woman made a vow and her husband, if married or father if not married, heard the vow and did not disallow it, then the vow would stand. But if the husband (or father) disallowed the woman's vow then it would not stand. God said through Moses, "Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband [or father] may establish it, or her husband may make it void" (v. 13). (And likewise the father for the unmarried woman, v. 3-5.)

Marriage is honorable in the sight of God. He ordained it, and He blesses it. Let it be known here and now that this writer does not advocate polygamous marriages. But polygamy was common in the days of the apostles. And, of course, there were problems, or at least potential problems, inherent with multiple wives that should be avoided in the oversight of the Church and a higher standard set that would represent God's ideal before the fall. Any Christian man having more than one wife was (and, of course, still is) automatically disqualified for the office of overseer (bishops and elders) or deacon.

Having said that, I would be remiss if I did not point out the well-known fact that mighty and holy men of God such as Moses and David (a man after God's heart) had more than one wife and God nowhere in Scripture even hints of His displeasure regarding this. And the rebuke for Solomon concerning multiple wives, had to do with his marriage to heathen women who would lead him into idolatry and was prohibited by the Law (Deut. 7:3).

A Higher Calling

The calling of God's people in this dispensation of grace is much higher than that of the Old Testament saints. This is true in virtually every sphere of endeavor in the lives of Christians, even though in these last days of apostasy an on-looker would not think so with all the worldliness, carnality, lack of separation, divorce, ad nauseam, in the lives of so many entertainment-loving and amusement-mad Christians.

In Matthew 19:8 Jesus told the Pharisees that it was because of the hardness of their hearts that Moses allowed them to divorce their wives. And in Ezra chapter 10 God, through Ezra, told the men who had married the forbidden foreign wives to put them away and the children born of them. But nowhere in the Old or the New Testament does God allow a woman to divorce her husband for any reason. Under the New Covenant in this dispensation of grace, a wife is commanded by the Lord to not depart from her husband; but if she does, which will be rebellion not only against her husband, but against the Lord, she must not marry another man or else she must be reconciled to her husband (1 Cor. 7:10-11).

There are many God-given prerogatives for husbands and fathers that women do not have, if for no other reason than God ordained it so. It's a man's world. And Satan has endeavored to pervert this fact from the beginning and as the climax of history draws nigh, the Enemy of our souls works more fervently to pervert this truth and destroy the dominion of man. Demons have even inspired the writing of a corrupted and perverted translation of the Bible now available that, in many cases, omits or changes references to gender including not only man but God too.

Woman Is The Glory of Man

God reiterates the fact that it is a man's world through the Spirit-inspired apostle Paul. In this dispensation of grace under the New Covenant woman is still subordinate to man. God says that the woman was created for the man and not the other way around (1 Cor. 11:9). In fact, she is not even the glory of God, but rather the glory of man (1 Cor. 11:7). It is man who is the glory of God. Truly it is a man's world and has been from the beginning.

Man, Not Christ, Is The Head of Woman

There are some deceived saints (and some who are wolves in sheep's clothing) that say in this dispensation there is neither male nor female in the eyes of God. But God is quite clear that this pertains to salvation, and has nothing to do with God's order of male-female relationships and God-ordained male dominance (Gal. 3:26-29). In fact, Christ is not even the head of woman---man is!

God says, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband [not Christ] is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church....Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing" (Eph. 5:22-24). "I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man [not Christ]" (1 Cor. 11:3).

In the KJV in Matthew 19:29 and the parallel passages of Mark 10:29 and Luke 18:29 Jesus said that everyone that left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands or wife for His "name's sake," "for my sake, and the gospel's," and "for the kingdom of God's sake" respectfully, would inherit eternal life. But in none of these comprehensive passages does the Word of God say that any woman leave her husband.

It is part of the sinful nature inherited from Adam for wives to want to rule over their husbands, at least, sometimes. This is something that they must contend with as long as they are in their body. But it is the man's responsibility (for which he will one day account to God) to see that he rules over his wife and not give in to her sometimes skillful manipulations to get her way contrary to her husband's desires.

This writer has had the rare occasion of having at least two women admit to him in a moment of utmost sincerity that most women (not sociopaths/psychopaths/narcissists), deep down inside, really don't want to rule over their husbands, they much prefer to let them fulfill that responsibility and be the men and leaders that they ought to be. However, for various reasons and at different times, Christian women do not submit to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in them to submit to their husbands (in everything as unto the Lord), and, giving in to that part of their sinful nature, even shed improvised tears and engage in other manipulative devices to control their husbands including the proverbial bedtime headache.

And, of course, the single woman, whose father is her head has to contend with the same sinful nature in her submission to him, but in the father-daughter relationship.

Husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. They need to realize that women truly are the weaker vessel by God's design, notwithstanding all the women activists, weight lifters, wrestlers, construction workers, politicians, corporate heads, and heads of state in some countries (1 Pet. 3:7).

When this writer was a boy living in what is known as the Bible Belt about 40 years ago, it was a rare thing to see a woman wearing blue jeans or pants of any sort. And when one did see a woman wearing pants, it was assumed (rightly or wrongly) that she was a homosexual. All godly women and their daughters wore dresses that expressed their femininity. And the girl that engaged in the activities of the boys acquired the label of "tomboy," a term that I have heard used by someone else only once in the last ten years. This is because there is now little or no difference in the activities of boys and girls and, of course, this carries over into adulthood. What was once considered "tomboyish" is now "normal" behavior, including little league ball teams and other similar activities.

It is sad enough that the world has embraced this perversion initiated by the enemy, but Christians have too. And any man who will speak out against it is considered a chauvinist or a legalist or narrow-minded, or all three. But this is only a symptom of the real problem. The real problem is sin. It is the blurring of the distinction between male and female, and the femininity-masculinity dichotomy. It is rebellion against a holy God.

God warned a long time ago, "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God" (Deut. 22:5).

Today, walking down the street behind someone, it is an ordinary thing to not be able to know whether the person in front of you is a man or a woman. Many women, including professing Christians, wear men's pants and shirts and have short hair. Likewise, many men, including professing Christians, have long hair. Again, this is an affront to God.

Regardless of what many apostate Christians are doing today, and what several notable church leaders in recent centuries have done, we must adhere to the timeless and universal Word of God. "Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her" (1 Cor. 11:14-15).

Things such as the so-called unisex movement, along with little girls, adolescents and women wearing masculine clothes, have had no little contribution to the increase in homosexuality. This country and others influenced by modern western culture and philosophy, has become a veritable Sodom and Gomorrah. The same governments that used to prosecute Sodomites for their crimes, now grant parade permits to block traffic so they can flaunt their sin with their banners and placards down the middle of the streets.

Men Have Relinquished Their Responsibility

The main reason that this and other countries has degenerated to such a perverse state is because men in general have relinquished their God-given responsibility to dominate the affairs of home, job, church, and government. (This is not to say that Christians should be involved in politics on any level. Indeed they should not be. We are in the world, but we are not of the world. We are strangers and pilgrims. Our citizenship is in heaven. Our purpose, as Christian men, is to call people out of the world by their repentance and conversion to Christ. But the men of the world, to a large degree, are turning over the affairs of civil government to the women and Sodomites.) And many Christian leaders in some measure have turned over the affairs of the Church to women.

A father is the one who is primarily responsible for the spanking and disciplining of the children, except in his absence when the mother should take care of this. Children are precious gifts from God, and we have a God-given responsibility to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4). But today many children dominate the home and manipulate their parents on a scale never before seen in the history of man. The huckster advertiser knows this, but many of God's people do not. Vast sums are spent on advertising in all the media, aimed at this perversion of God's order.

Many Christians Hate Their Children

Genuine love for your children includes spanking and disciplining them when they disobey. According to God's Word, if you don't spank your children, you really don't love them. As a matter of fact, not only do you not love them, but it is irrefutable proof that you hate them. "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes" (Prov. 13:24). Parents should love their children enough to chasten them when they should be. And this is one of the ways in which God shows His love for us. "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement...ye [are] bastards, and not sons" (Heb. 12:6-8).

Many fathers and mothers are now trying to get their spoiled, ill-mannered, undisciplined children to cooperate rather than obey. How God feels about neglecting to discipline children and youth is found in the example of Eli. The Lord said, "This shall be a sign unto thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die both of them...I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house [family]...For I have told him [Eli] that I will judge his house [family] for ever for the iniquity [sin] he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile [contemptible], and he restrained them not" (1 Sam. 2:34; 3:11-13). And later a messenger from the Israelite army came to Eli and said, "Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead...And...[Eli] fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died" (1 Sam. 4:17-18).

A few of the many verses that reveal God's will concerning disciplining children are: "A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame" (Prov. 17:2). "A foolish son is the calamity [ruin] of his father" (Prov. 19:13). "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying" (Prov. 19:18). "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him" (Prov. 22:15). "Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die" (Prov. 23:13). "Thou shalt beat him [a child] with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell" (Prov. 23:14). "The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame" (Prov. 29:15). "Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest [peace]; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul" (Prov. 29:17). "Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is wellpleasing unto the Lord" (Col. 3:20). "[An overseer must be] one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity [dignity]" (1 Tim. 3:4). And finally Paul warns, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For...[people]... shall be...disobedient to parents" (2 Tim. 3:1-2).

Why will children be disobedient to parents in the last days? Primarily because men (and women in the absence of the husband) will not spank and discipline their children as they should. (This, of course, says nothing of the overwhelming influence of broken homes, abusive or negligent stepparents, etc.) It is primarily the man's God-ordained responsibility, but like other aspects of his neglect, he refuses to fill the role that God decreed, and therefore Paul's prophecy of the end-time is being fulfilled before our eyes.

Christ Chose Men To Be Church Leaders

Not only have men relinquished their God-given responsibilities in the home and other places, but also in the Church. Why do you think God says for women to be silent in the churches, that it is a shame for women to speak in the church? And if a woman has a question while in the church, she is to ask her man (Greek aner, "man"--- husband if married, father if single) at home rather than asking the pastor or an elder or another godly woman?

Why were men and women segregated in the assembly in the early apostolic churches?

Why do you think that in the epistles addressed to a church, for example to "the church of the Thessalonians," Paul addressed the brethren (adelphos) 15 times in the first epistle and seven times in the second, but did not address the sisters (adelphe) at all? And when Paul wrote his epistle to the churches in Galatia he addressed the brethren nine times, but had nothing to say to the women?

Or, when James wrote his epistle "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," that was to the universal Church at that time, there were 15 addresses to the brethren (men), but none to women?

Why did Christ, when He chose the Twelve, choose men? And when He chose the Seventy to go out He chose men? And when He commissioned those to go into all the world to preach the Gospel He sent out eleven men?

Why did Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit of Christ, tell Timothy that he did not allow a woman to teach or have authority over a man, but to be in silence? Why, when the widows needed to be cared for in the daily distribution of food, did the apostles have seven men, not women, appointed to fill the office of deacon to take care of that ministry?

Why are the qualifications for overseers [episkopos], elders [presbuteros], and deacons [diakonos], as set forth in 1 Timothy and Titus, clearly those for men? And why is there no office and qualifications listed for any women including the fact that there is no such office as deaconess?

Some Christians want to argue that Philip had four daughters that prophesied. Yes, that is what Acts 21:9 says, but one thing is sure---they did not prophesy in the churches and be in the Lord's will, because it was a commandment of the Lord that women were not to speak in the church (1 Cor. 14:34-37).

According to early Church history, even congregational singing was not introduced into the Church until the late fourth century by Ambrose after the Nicene Council when the Church had almost entirely apostatized and there has not been a full recovery since, not even in the reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries.

An important service for the older women in the homes is to "teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, [and] keepers at home."

It is noteworthy that of all the twelve apostles and the record of their work and epistles there is nowhere in the Scriptures even the mention of one of their wives' names including that of Peter. And we would not even know that the apostle Peter, who had a significant role in the early Church, was married except for the mention of his mother-in-law's illness and the brief comment in 1 Corinthians 9:5. How does this compare with the prominence of the wives of many church leaders today?

To say that God has used women in leadership roles is not saying a great deal. There have been cases of true converts made by men who had not been born again themselves. Not only that, but God uses Satan. So, what does the fact that God uses various instruments have to do with gain or loss of rewards and even the eternal destiny of the instrument?

Apostasy Has Affected Conservative Christians

We do not realize how the prevalent and centuries-old apostasy has affected the thinking and the interpretation and application of scriptural truths even in among "conservative" Christians. One of the greatest hindrances to seeing how far we have missed the mark in so many areas is that even the most conservative true Christians look around and see how apostate so many others are and think "I look pretty good." But the Scriptures say that "they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise" (2 Cor. 10:12). If we compare ourselves to the standards of God's Word even the best of  so-called "churches" today don't look very good.

Truth is truth even if nobody believes it; and error is error even if everybody believes it. Let God be true, but every man a liar (Rm. 3:4). There needs to be a radical reformation today even among the best of local churches and nothing short of removing the scales from our eyes will enable us to see this truth, and how far we have strayed from apostolic Christianity.

In summary, some important truths to remember are: Husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it. Woman was created for man, not the other way around. Woman is the glory of man---not God. Wives are to submit to their husbands in everything. The head of the man is Christ and the head of the woman is man---not Christ. Women are not to speak or teach in the church or exercise authority over a man. Women are to be keepers of the home. Children are to obey their parents. Primarily fathers and secondarily mothers are to spank and discipline their children when needed.

A Challenge

Men, isn't it time you got serious with God before it's too late? The last-days apostasy is already coming to pass, but it doesn't have to happen to everyone. I challenge you, the reader---man or woman---in a spirit of love, if you are guilty of neglect or violation of Scripture in any of the several areas mentioned in this message, to quit making excuses and by the grace of God do what you know to be God's will for you and your relationship with your spouse and children.

It is very late, and high time to quit playing church and for the men to meet the three conditions for being a disciple of Jesus Christ according to Luke 14, be filled with the Holy Spirit and do the work of the Church which is to evangelize the unsaved and make disciples of the converts so that they can evangelize the unsaved and make disciples of the converts until Jesus comes back. If twelve men who met those conditions and who were filled with the Holy Spirit could be used by God to turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6), then what could God do with a dozen men like that today?

God has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His standards for men and for women are still the same and the consequences for violating them are eternal. It is still a man's world. By the grace of God may there be repentance and a return to the roles that God ordained for us.

The Spirit-inspired wise man wrote, "I found one upright man among a thousand, but not one upright woman among them all" (Ecc. 7:28).

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